The Washington Redskins are leading the NFC East and, ridiculously, they may stay there

The standings say the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants are tied atop the NFC East with dual 5-6 records, thanks to the ‘Skins mostly definitive, but briefly shaky, home win over their division rivals on Sunday. But because of the division-record tiebreaker, Washington has the lead, due to its 2-1 record and the Giants’ 2-2.

That means that as the calendar flips to December and the NFL hits the top of its homestretch, the Washington Redskins, an offseason laughingstock for the past three years that officially benched its quarterback who won Rookie of the Year less than three years ago and entered the season with the longest odds, by far, of winning the division, are currently atop the NFC East. And the strangest part yet? They may stay there.

(Getty Images)

It has been a crazy NFL season. It’s always a crazy NFL season. The Redskins may be exhibit No. 1.

The team over-performed early in the season, starting 2-3 with a win over the then-decent Philadelphia Eagles and an overtime loss to the then-undefeated Atlanta Falcons. But then came a brutal loss to the merely okay New York Jets in which the Redskins were down 34-13 with four minutes left to play. One week later, the team trailed Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by 24 points midway through the second quarter. Kirk Cousins led a wild comeback but the team was still down 30-24 when the Redskins got the ball with 2:24 left. Then, Cousins, in his first year as an entrenched starter, led the team on a beautiful two-minute drill that culminated with a six-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Reed with 24 seconds remaining.

Suddenly, going into the bye week at a season-killing 2-5 was instead a somehow-manageable 3-4 thanks to the jumbled up mediocrity that is the NFC East. And Washington liked it.

Washington is only 2-2 after that bye. The team lost by 45 points combined to teams currently 21-0 (Carolina and New England). This is not a Super Bowl team. It’s only a playoff team right now because of its horrible division. (Though 4-6 teams have made the wild card plenty of times before.)

But if that division is going to giveth, the Redskins should taketh, just as they did in their two post-bye games not against undefeated teams. There was the win over the defense-deficient Saints (47-14, check) and then taking the always pesky Giants down at home, just like the Redskins had to do in their last run to the playoffs in 2012 (20-14, done). The rest of the route is set, like fans inputted the location and destination on Google Maps:

1. Beat Dallas without Tony Romo next Monday night. Seems easy, but is far from one — in 1989, the 1-15 Cowboys got their only win against the 10-6 Redskins and last year the 4-12 Redskins beat the 12-4 Cowboys on a Monday night in Dallas with third-string QB Colt McCoy under center. That’s a key game for many reasons, but especially to get Washington to 3-1 in the East.

(AP)

2. Then there’s a game at Chicago followed by a game against the Bills at FedEx Field, where Washington is 5-1 this season and on a five-game winning streak. Split those.

3. Then there are two “thanks, schedule makers” games at the end of the year, at Philly and at Dallas. Both teams are likely to be packing it in by then. But both teams won’t lay down and will do their part to keep the Redskins from the playoffs, even if it means sending the Giants there. (Last year, the 3-11 Redskins beat the Eagles in Week 16 to keep Chip Kelly’s team out of the playoffs, so that’s instant motivation for a team that could be playing out the string.) Sweep those games and it’s almost impossible to believe Washington doesn’t win the East, as the Giants would have to win out.

4. With a schedule that includes playoff teams in Carolina and Minnesota, playoff long shots in the Jets and a division game against the Eagles in Week 17 (coupled with a should-win game on a Monday night against Miami), the Giants have a tough path to win out, especially after suffering some key injuries on Sunday. (The Giants’ remaining opponents have a .600 win percentage. The Redskins’ have a .364.)

(Getty Images)

5. Give New York a loss to either the Panthers or Vikings and then one somewhere else. It’d put the G-Men at 8-8.

6. Give Washington a loss to either the Bills or Bears plus one of the three division games and that puts the ‘Skins at 8-8. That means it’s Washington, improbably, in the playoffs.

Then again, in 2011, the Giants lost a do-or-die Week 15 game against the Redskins to fall to 7-7. In 2007, the Giants lost a major late-season game to the Redskins that helped give the division to the Dallas Cowboys and made New York a wild-card team. Yet with a 9-7 and 10-6 record in those years, respectively, New York went on to win the Super Bowl.

(The Arizona Republic)

So don’t believe that a 9-7 or 8-8 NFC East champion is just dead in the playoffs. And don’t think the Redskins are in the driver’s seat or that the Giants lost control of their destiny on Sunday. December starts in two days and in the wacky NFC East, anything is possible. The current standings are all the proof you need.

The Washington Redskins are leading the NFC East and, ridiculously, they may stay there

It’s a crazy, crazy NFL world.

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